Without Accountability, True Character Is Revealed
How is it that two people raised in the same environment turn out different? The play Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, helps to show human nature through a series of events linked through the Salem witch trials. In this play, a group of young teenagers would undermine the religious government and make a mockery of the Salem judicial system. The play revolves around people not brave enough to stand up and take responsibility. Many of the characters in The Crucible have motives behind their accusations of witchcraft. They all seek some form of personal gain, such as preserving a good reputation. Miller shows human nature through the development of characters. Two young ladies, in particular, Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams, can be labeled as a good one and the other evil. Their true identities are revealed through their differences and their one similarity.
Elizabeth role in The Crucible is the good person. She always did what was right and just throughout most of The Crucible. She was basically a house wife to a farmer, John Proctor, and took care of three children. She is known throughout the community to be a noble woman, proves to be honest, very religious and calm character. This honest woman only lies once throughout the entire play, which could have saved John's life. "She-dissatisfied me and my husband" (page 112) She tells this lie to Danforth in order to protect her husband's reputation from being blackened in the village. Her honesty proves true when she is sent to jail for witchcraft, and she discovers she is pregnant. When she tells Danforth he says "There be no sign of it- we have examined her body" (page 92). In the last act, while talking to her husband, he asks "The child?" She then replies, "It grows" (page 134). Elizabeth also thinks of herself in a negative perspective many times. For example, "It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery." She also has insights into her husband, John. For example, "John, you are not open...
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